Comment Re:2005 Dell... same sh*t 5 years later. (Score 1) 415
They need this kind of program for phones.
Submission + - BioShock Creator Levine Teases Next Project (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "In a new interview, BioShock creator Ken Levine has been talking about his studio's philosophy and teasing, at least abstractly, his next project, of which he says "we had a scope and ambition in mind which is more ambitious than anything we've ever done. Even more, substantially more ambitious than BioShock." He also commented on 2K Marin, currently working on BioShock 2, wishing them luck but making it clear that he is not majorly involved in the game: "I'm not working on BioShock 2. I make no claim to anything on BioShock 2,and I think it's important that that's their product, and their culture. Because you can't just clone a studio.""
Submission + - Game Design Essentials: 20 RPGs
simoniker writes: "In the latest in his Game Design Essentials series for Gamasutra, which has previously spanned subjects from 'mysterious games', through 'open world games', 'unusual control schemes' and 'difficult games', writer John Harris examines 10 games from the Western computer RPG (CRPG) tradition and 10 from the Japanese console RPG (JRPG) tradition, to figure out what exactly makes them tick. From the entry on Pokemon: "The front-line Pokémon do all the fighting. They are traded back and forth between trainers, even into, effectively, other universes through either a strange link-cable portal or, these days, converted into photons and broadcast through the ether. Do they question the motives of the god-beings who command them? Do they treat their lot philosophically? Do they pine for the pixel-grass in which they spent their childhoods?""
Submission + - How Much Money Do Free To Play MMOs Make? (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "Over at Gamasutra, a new feature article discusses how much money free-to-play MMO games make, with specific real-world stats from game developers willing to discuss how they make money with PC microtransaction-based games. In particular, Puzzle Pirates co-creator Daniel James reveals that "the average revenue per user (ARPU) is between one and two dollars a month, but only about 10% of his player base has ever paid him anything. As a result, he says, approximately 5,000 gamers are generating the $230,000 in revenue he sees each month." It's obviously quite a different model from the regular $15/month for World Of Warcraft, but it evidently works for some companies."
Submission + - Epic's Sweeney On The PC Shareware Revolution (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "Over at Gamasutra, there's a massive new interview with Epic (Mega)Games founder Tim Sweeney, with the guy who's still a key technical figure at the Unreal Engine/Gears Of War developer discussing his early programming days, the story behind classic shareware game/tool ZZT, the origins of Epic, the '90s shareware business, and even a bit about the future as well. Particularly neat is his revelation that you can still order ZZT via mail, with orders fulfilled by his dad: "My father still lives at the address where Potomac Computer Systems started up, so he still gets an order every few weeks... he's retired now, so he doesn't have much to do. Every week, he'll just take a stack of a few orders, put disks in them, and mail them out. So you can still buy ZZT.""
Submission + - Ensemble Studios' Canceled Project Was Halo MMO (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "Following the recent announcement that Microsoft-owned Age Of Empires creator Ensemble Studios would close after the completion of Halo Wars, Gamasutra has discovered that a now-canceled Halo MMO was in development at the studio, unearthing prototype UI and level screenshots of the Ensemble-developed project. The prototype art, which was at one point made available on an Ensemble-linked online artist portfolio website, further confirms previous rumors that the studio was working on an MMO based on the Bungie-created sci-fi franchise."
Submission + - A History Of Atari: The Golden Years (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "Over at Gamasutra, Steve Fulton has published a massive 23,000-word history of Atari from 1978 to 1981, encompassing "...some of the most exciting developments the company ever saw in its history: the rise of the 2600, the development of some of the company's most enduringly popular games (Centipede, Asteroids) and the development and release of its first home computing platforms." Best quote in there for Slashdot readers, perhaps: "Atari had contracted with a young programmer named Bill Gates to modify a BASIC compiler that he had for another system to be used on the 800. After that project stalled for over a year Al was called upon to replace him with another developer. So... Al is the only person I know ever to have fired Bill Gates.""
Submission + - Stroustrup: C++ Education Needs To Improve (ddj.com)
simoniker writes: "Over at Dr. Dobb's, C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup has given an in-depth interview dealing with, among other things, the upcoming C++0x programming standard, as well as his views on the past and future of C++. He particularly comments on some of the difficulties of educating people on C++: "In the early days of C++, I worried a lot about 'not being able to teach teachers fast enough.' I had reason to worry because much of the obvious poor use of C++ can be traced to fundamental misunderstandings among educators. I obviously failed to articulate my ideals and principles sufficiently." Though he notes: "Given that the problems are not restricted to C++, I'm not alone in that. As far as I can see, every large programming community suffers, so the problem is one of scale", is there anything specific to C++ that makes it trickier to learn/teach?"
Submission + - Parallel Programming - Big Outside The States? (dobbscodetalk.com)
simoniker writes: "In a new weblog post on Dobbs Code Talk, Intel's James Reinders has been discussing the growth of concurrency in programming, suggesting that "...programming for multi-core is catching the imagination of programmers more in Japan, China, Russia and India than in Europe and the United States." He also commented: "We see a significantly HIGHER interest in jumping on a parallelism from programmers with under 15 years experience, verses programmers with more than 15 years." Any anecdotal evidence on this from Slashdotters?"
Submission + - What Programming Languages Should You Learn Next? (dobbscodetalk.com)
simoniker writes: "Over at Dobbs Code Talk, Chris Diggins has been discussing programming languages beyond C++ or Java, suggesting options such as Ruby ("does a great job of showing how powerful a dynamic language can be, and leverages powerful ideas from Smalltalk, Perl, and Lisp") but suggesting Scala as a first choice ("Very accessible to programmers from different backgrounds.") What would your choice be for programmers extending beyond their normal boundaries?"
Submission + - Using Excel For A 3D Graphics Engine? 1
simoniker writes: "Obviously whimsical but slightly mindblowing — an Eastern European coder has published video and the Excel tables to get full 3D wireframe and even solid polygonal graphics running in Microsoft Excel. This isn't an Easter Egg by the Excel creators — rather, he's using formulas to output the graphics, using two different methods, and showing all the variables on screen in real time as the 3D is created."
Submission + - Academics Speak On 'Life After World Of Warcraft' (gamasutra.com)
simoniker writes: "Are MMO populations 'tribal', and if so, what's the next tribal shift after World of Warcraft? At Gamasutra, academics including MIT's Henry Jenkins and Ludium's Edward Castronova discuss what's next for the MMO market, based on their research and play patterns. In there, Jenkins says WoW is getting _too_ much analysis from researchers right now: "WoW deserves attention because it has so captured the imagination of gamers over the past few years. That said, I don't think it is healthy for the field of games studies, which is still emerging, to be so fixated on a single game franchise — no matter what the franchise. A few years ago, it might have been The Sims or GTA, now it's WoW.""
Submission + - Are Game Publishers Late To The (Wii and DS) Game?
simoniker writes: "A new 'Analyze This' feature on Gamasutra examines analysts' views on the rise of Nintendo's Wii and DS, and how well game publishers have reacted to it, with Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter commenting: "It's hard to criticize anyone for putting too much faith in the PS3, as most [publishers] haven't created "cutting edge" titles yet for that platform. Most of the PS3 titles so far have been perennial titles, like Madden, Tony Hawk, etc.. And I don't think that the publishers have "put too much faith" in the 360, as that platform and [its] games are performing well... Rather, I'd say that most failed to capitalize on the DS and Wii opportunity. The exception on the DS side is THQ, which has made every game it can for the platform. On the Wii side, Ubisoft took a big chance by making ten games for the [Wii] launch window, and it has performed very well, so far. I think that the others will catch up no later than early next year.""
Submission + - PR And The Game Media, The Rockstar Way
simoniker writes: Discussing PR and the media, former Rockstar Games PR rep Todd Zuniga discusses how the company tried to manipulate the game press as part of an in-depth article on how the two forces interact: "In part, it's a numbers game... Otherwise, it's history. Who wrote negatively about the games, and who hasn't? We never worked with [gaming website] GameSpot while I was there because 'they just didn't get it.'... Hilariously, we even had a list of journalist preferences: 'Likes cake, married, went to school at Indiana U'."
Submission + - BioWare On Tracking Player Feedback
simoniker writes: "BioWare's QA director Phillip DeRosa has written a piece called 'Tracking Player Feedback To Improve Game Design' over at Gamasutra, which deals with how game developers can use statistics, even before a game is released, to improve gameplay. DeRosa "...explains how the Mass Effect creator has set up and executed code-based monitoring of key metrics to test, analyze, and refine its projects through playtesting." Is this approach sensible, or could it be more like movie producers 'pandering' to test audiences?"
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